Family
by Nattou
Summary: Slumped over he looked much younger than his 17 years. Family, Harry, is about more than blood and who looks like whom. It's about who we love, who we care for, and who we miss when they aren't around. - molly finds harry after the war


**Family**

 **AN:** So I just finished re-reading the series and this just sort of popped out. First attempt at writing anything Harry Potter, so if it sucks…well then it does, but I did my best with what my muse was wanting.  
Its been a long time since I've written much of anything, so apologies if my grammar sucks. English is not my first language.

 **Summary:** Slumped over he looked much younger than his seventeen years, and she was suddenly reminded of the little boy who had approached her all those years ago at Kings Cross Station, alone and unsure.

 **Disclaimer:** Own nothing but my own thoughts

-HP-

He had yet to notice her presence as she stepped out of the castle and started towards the broken piece of wall on which he was sitting. Slumped over he looked much younger than his seventeen years, and she was suddenly reminded of the little boy who had approached her all those years ago at Kings Cross Station, alone and unsure. His gaze seemed to be fixed on the unnaturally still surface of the lake, where a near perfect reflection of the castle shimmered in the moonlight.

"Harry?" she asked carefully, her voice hoarse after hours of fighting and crying. "Why are you sat here all alone?"

Harry jumped at the sudden sound, nearly dropping the wand in his hand as he spun around to look at her. He was battered and bruised, blood staining both his shirt and his pants, but it wasn't that which caught her attention; it was his eyes. A myriad of emotion swam behind the bright green as he looked up at her, unable to answer her question in words. He simply held her gaze as if he was willing her to understand what he could not say. What he didn't know _how_ to say.

And suddenly she realized why he was there. What he was afraid of. This remarkable young boy who didn't find himself remarkable at all, this young boy who had experienced more heartache than anyone his age ever should, he was still, in his mind, alone and unsure. Or at the very least afraid that he was.

"Harry…" she nearly whispered as she pulled him to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. Like Ron, he was taller than her, but it didn't matter, he still sank into her hug in the same way he had done as a little boy.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. For all the pain I've caused you."

The words made tears burn behind her eyes again. Tears for Fred, for Tonks and Lupin, for everyone they'd lost, but also for him; the little boy who had stolen her heart seven years ago, who she loved, and in many ways considered her own. This boy who had grown up without love, who was blamed for everything that went wrong, and who still felt as if it was all his fault. How could she make him understand? Make him see that there were people who would always love him, and a place where he was always welcome, regardless of the circumstances.

"Harry," she started as she pulled away from the hug so she could look at him. A lone tear had escaped his eye and she quickly moved her hand to wipe it away, her thumb stroking his cheek lovingly as she tried to hold back her own tears. "It's not your fault. None of it."

"It took me too long to figure it out, if only id been quicker…Maybe they'd still be here."

Her heart was breaking for him. No child should ever have to feel the kind of responsibility he had been faced with. The fate of the entire wizard community was too much for his young shoulders to bear, yet somehow he had managed it. With the help of Ron and Hermione he had finished what he set out to do; destroy Voldemort once and for all.

"I didn't mean for Fred to die," he choked out as more tears escaped both of their eyes.

"I know," she whispered through her tears, holding him tightly against her again. "I know." And she did. Harry would have wanted to do it all alone if he could have. Not to be the hero, but to protect them all. He never wanted anyone to suffer on his behalf. For a child who had spent his first eleven years in a house with no love, he had remarkable amounts of it for everyone around him. And just like she knew Harry would never have wanted Fred to die, she knew that Fred could never have been content sitting in a protected house doing nothing. She didn't blame Harry. She could never blame Harry.

"I'm so proud of you," she said quietly as she felt his body shake with tears she suspected he'd held in for far too long on a journey he should never have had to take. A journey that had stolen more than just his innocence, but also his hopes and dreams for a life he'd never known. She may not have seen eye to eye with Sirius Black all the time, but she knew how much he had loved Harry and how much Harry had hoped to one day have a true home with his godfather. Oh, how she had wanted to defy Dumbledore and bring him home with them after the battle at the Ministry. Sending him back to those muggles every summer was one of the things she dreaded most as they waited for the Hogwarts Express to arrive. She had overheard conversations more than once regarding his treatment there, been told by her son how Harry was starved and kept locked up in his room. Sirius had been Harry's one hope of someday belonging, really belonging, and then he lost him all too soon. Sirius's death had made it all the more harder to send Harry back to Privet Drive. He was going home to a family who would not help him through his grief, but who would rather make it worse. Ignorant to the horrors their nephew had gone through, they would treat him as if he wasn't there.

Then last year had brought Dumbledore's unexpected death and he lost yet another person he had learned to count on. His mentor in this war he had been pulled into was suddenly gone, and once more she was forced to act against her motherly instinct and send him back to the muggles.

But never again. This time he was going home with them. He was a part of their family.

"Harry," she said hoarsely. "I don't know what you faced this year. I don't know how you three figured out how to destroy the man who seemed indestructible. But I do know one thing. When I looked around the table a few minutes ago…someone was missing…no, not just Fred," she nearly chocked out when he opened his mouth to speak. The pain of the loss was still unbearable and hard to accept. "I…I looked at my children. At all of them. One by one. Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fr… George, Ron, Ginny…and then…then my two extras. The two I chose to love, but only Hermione was there."

Harry's lip quivered as she spoke, tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Family, Harry, is about more than blood and who looks like whom. It's about who we love, who we care for, and who we miss when they aren't around. I didn't give birth to you, Harry," she said tearfully. "But you are still a part of our family. You will always be one of us, and in our family, nobody gets left behind or forgotten. There will always be someone looking for you and worrying about you when you're not where you should be. Like right now," she said softly.

"I…I didn't…"

"Want to intrude?" he nodded meekly and she smiled a tearful smile. Not all of Harry's scars were visible or caused by injuries, she just hoped that in time they would fade into nothingness as he finally had time to find his place.

"You never did, Harry. Not once."

And with that she wiped the tears from his cheeks before gently guiding him back into the castle where stillness had now settled as the adrenaline faded. Hushed conversations had replaced the loud cheering from earlier, and unlike the moments after the final battle, Harry was allowed to walk uninterrupted through the crowd. Of the Weasleys it was Ginny who noticed them first; her sad, red rimmed eyes fixed on Harry as she stood up and nearly fell into his open arms.

Mrs. Weasly smiled sadly when she heard him whisper a quiet 'I'm sorry' in her daughter's ear as she buried her face in the fabric of his shirt. The intimacy of the hug spoke volumes and was proof of what she had suspected for quite some time. There was more than just friendship between the two of them, a lot more. Glancing back she saw Harry wipe a tear off Ginny's cheek with a tender hand as he held her close to him. Her daughter would be in good hands, and maybe, just maybe Harry would one day be part of their family in more ways than one.

 **AN:** Reviews make my day, so please click the pretty button and let me know what you think.

Caroline


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